surfisup1000: Every time some poor beneficiary wails about their predicament (usually politically motivated) whaleoil investigates the background and reported facts and he always finds the story to be a lie (I think that leaving out relevant facts is the same as lying). You just don't get that critical analysis from the papers.

Journalists call it being technically correct. What they are saying is not generally untrue, but it also isn't balanced out or given correct context by what they aren't saying.

jonathan18: And you would hold up Cameron Slater as the model of citizen journalism??!!

Sites like Whale Oil may serve a purpose as long as one acknowledges the writers and contributors have a particular axe to grind, and in no way are interested in presenting an un-jaundiced perspective. Slater falls into this category more than possibly any other (prominent) blog/site in this country - witness the relationship between him and Collins.

WyleECoyoteNZ: New to this country, but has been like this in the UK for at least 1 news site for quite a while.

The Times Online (http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/) has Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson as a column writer. Before this content used to be free to the reader, but now this requires a login account, and a fee associated with that

The headlines look to be open access, however anything else looks to require a login account.

True.

However the Times has excellent journalism - something no NZ paper has. The headline "Cat Up A Tree Saved In Dunedin" has yet to appear in the Times...!

To be honest, we could easily bin ALL the NZ papers and replace them with one national one that came out once a week and be no worse off.

old3eyes: I wonder if the bean counters at TVNZ and Mediaworks are trying to figure out how to make the 6.00PM news go behind a paywall ... Wait Kill it on FTA and only have it on Sky..

Free to air broadcasters must be bleeding revenue as a result of people using PVRs to skip ads, pirating TV shows from overseas, and simply turning the TV off in favour of other online media. I wouldn't be surprised to see them radically change their business model over the coming years.

WyleECoyoteNZ: New to this country, but has been like this in the UK for at least 1 news site for quite a while.

The Times Online (http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/) has Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson as a column writer. Before this content used to be free to the reader, but now this requires a login account, and a fee associated with that

The headlines look to be open access, however anything else looks to require a login account.

True.

However the Times has excellent journalism - something no NZ paper has. The headline "Cat Up A Tree Saved In Dunedin" has yet to appear in the Times...!

To be honest, we could easily bin ALL the NZ papers and replace them with one national one that came out once a week and be no worse off.

Ours do human interest stories as opposed to phone bugging etc

MikeRetired IT Manager. The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

old3eyes: I wonder if the bean counters at TVNZ and Mediaworks are trying to figure out how to make the 6.00PM news go behind a paywall ... Wait Kill it on FTA and only have it on Sky..

Free to air broadcasters must be bleeding revenue as a result of people using PVRs to skip ads, pirating TV shows from overseas, and simply turning the TV off in favour of other online media. I wouldn't be surprised to see them radically change their business model over the coming years.

They have already begun changing. You will notice that some of their premium programs are already being shown on TVNZ on demand in advance of them appearing on TV. So I suspect that in the near future, that this will be a service they will charge for, and if you want to watch free, you will have to wait for it to be shown on TV. TVNZ on demand I recall did used to be a pay for service for some things, but probably due to poor uptake, they made it free. But these things can't be free forever.

True, and I for one feel thankful to be able to get cat-related news items on TV. There are just not enough p^Hcats on the internet for my inquiring mind that needs to know. And besides, since our government doesn't bug anyone, what else is there to worry about?

iPad Air + iPhone SE + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

It's amazing the amount of paywalls that fail. Big papers in the US & UK can get away with it, but they actually have "journalists". Then you have sites like "stfu" oops ..."Stuff" and "NZ Herald" who just copy/paste from any affiliated site. I predict this dying a quick death.

reven: I'm completely fine with paywalls, I think theyre a great idea. ... As long as the subscription isnt ridiculous, maybe between $10 - $20 a month ...

$10 t0 $20 per month IS ridiculous for any NZ online newspaper. I would consider paying that much for The Times - they have real news and real journalists.There is no way I would subscribe to any printed NZ paper at any price - I would consider $5 per month for online access (which I would probably use once a week)

Being part of a generation raised on analogue, we still get the Herald delivered. We have a "no circulars" sign on the mailbox so I rely on the ads in the paper for my tech bargains. Part of my routine includes the crosswords and sudoku. I read it online as well when I'm not home.If the Herald expects me to pay more than I already do to access their version of 'news' then they are sadly mistaken. In fact it is more likely to make me reassess what value I am getting for what I pay already and ditch the lot. If they include the paywall in my existing subscription they may be able to save it.

Dingbatt: Being part of a generation raised on analogue, we still get the Herald delivered. We have a "no circulars" sign on the mailbox so I rely on the ads in the paper for my tech bargains. Part of my routine includes the crosswords and sudoku. I read it online as well when I'm not home.If the Herald expects me to pay more than I already do to access their version of 'news' then they are sadly mistaken. In fact it is more likely to make me reassess what value I am getting for what I pay already and ditch the lot. If they include the paywall in my existing subscription they may be able to save it.

I stopped subscribing to the paper, not becuase I didn't find it good and useful, but because they were not able to deliver it into my mailbox. They instead shot it onto the pavement and it was always getting picked up by people walking past. They said they were unable to get out of their car to put it into the box due to OSH rules. I get called every now and then with great promotions such as 6 months for a quarter of the price it is normlaly, but I always declineas it is just too much hassle having to ring them each time a newspaper never arrives. I don't think it is very good for democracy if NZ newspapers go behind paywalls, becuase many people will not be bothered paying for it. It is ironic that one newspaper is are now concentrating on radio, and radio seems like a growth industry over both newspapers and tv.

WyleECoyoteNZ: New to this country, but has been like this in the UK for at least 1 news site for quite a while.

The Times Online (http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/) has Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson as a column writer. Before this content used to be free to the reader, but now this requires a login account, and a fee associated with that

The headlines look to be open access, however anything else looks to require a login account.

True.

However the Times has excellent journalism - something no NZ paper has. The headline "Cat Up A Tree Saved In Dunedin" has yet to appear in the Times...!

To be honest, we could easily bin ALL the NZ papers and replace them with one national one that came out once a week and be no worse off.